Educational game



Feb. 7, 1967 0. M. ISRAEL. 3,302,311

' EDUCATIONAL GAME I Filed May 20, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l Ill \Il 7 i InFIG.6

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EDUCAT IONAL GAME Filed May 20, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 40 a 4 FEB. 38 4|w w 1 39 J Ill.

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45 l V o c fimminnri-mim INVENTOR F |G 7A. Dorothy M. Israel 44 "M [ISporrow and Sparrow 43 r ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,302,311EDUCATIONAL GAME Dorothy M. Israel, 365 West End Ave., New York, N.Y.10024 Filed May 20, 1964, Ser. No. 368,905 6 Claims. (CI. 35-69) Thisinvention relates to educational and therapeutic games, and itsprincipal object is to provide a device of this kind having amultiplicity of continuously arranged blocks carrying artistic indiciaon each face thereof which may be arranged and rearranged to producevarious patterns, designs or configurations which may be discontinuousor continuous to bring into view a prearranged assembly or assembliesdefining an object or objects.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a stand for saidblocks to enable the blocks to be individually manipulated to carry outthe aforementioned object.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the device with aframe and means for mounting or supporting the blocks in the frame insuch a manner that they may be individually manipulated.

A still further object of the present invention is to mount the blocksin a holder in such manner that faces of contiguous blocks may bealigned respectively.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a framestructure for the block assembly whereby individual blocks may berotated to present selective respective faces of the blocks.

These and other objects, features and advantages will clearly appearfrom the detailed description given below taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings which form part of this specification andillustrate merely by way of example certain embodiments of the device ofthe invention. In the following description and in the claims, partswill be identified by specific names for convenience, but such names areintended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as theart will permit. Like reference characters denote like parts in thefigures of the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows, in perspective, a structural arrangement of blockscarrying artistic indicia, according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cubical block of the arrangement shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view, in perspective, showing the structure of thearrangement shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the bottom structure of the arrangement shownin FIGS. 1 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the bottom structure shown in FIG. 5; 1

FIGS. 7, 7a are modified embodiments of the bottom structure shown inFIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is another form of structural arrangement, according to theinvention;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows, in perspective, three of the triangularlyshaped blocks,utilizable in the arrangement shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 shows the arrangement shown in FIG. 8, with several of thetriangularly-shaped blocks in selected rotational positions; and

FIG. 12 shows two of the tri-angularly-shaped blocks, partly brokenaway, illustrating a detail of assembly.

Referring now in more detail to the drawings illustrating preferredembodiments by which the invention may be realized, there is disclosedin FIG. 1 an arrangement 3,302,311 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 See 20 of ninecubes or blocks, which are lined up and rotatably held on three verticalshafts 22. The shafts 22 are attached to a holder or base 19, which, inthe embodiment seen in FIGS. 1 to 6, comprises bottom pieces or members23, 24, 25 which are arranged and assembled in such manner that thedistances of the vertical shafts 22 from one to the other aresubstantially equal to the dimension of a side of the blocks or cubes21. The cubes 21 have a central through hole 26 so that they fit looselyover shafts 22. Cubes 21 carry on the four sides, which are parallel tothe central hole 26, artistic indicia, either in black and white, or incolors, forming patterns, color schemes or irregular configurations, asindicated by the numeral 27. The bottom members or pieces 23, 24, 25 areheld together by a tongue-andgroove or slot arrangement, in such mannerthat bottom pieces 23 and 25 have protruding tongues 28, 28a which fitslidingly in corresponding cavities or slots 29, 29a of bottom piece 24.

FIG. 7 discloses a holder or base 19a in which a more permanentarrangement of the members or pieces is shown, and wherein members orpieces 30 and 32 have cavities or slots 29b, 290, whereas member orpiece 31 has two tongues 33, 33a. However, the tongues 33 have pegs orpins 34, 34a which slidingly fit in elongated grooves or slots 35, 35ain the members or pieces 30 and 32, so that the two outside members orpieces 30 and 32 may be pulled outwardly from the center member or piece31 to a degree limited by the stops or pegs 34, 34a. This extension orsliding movement of members 30, 32 with relation to center member 31permits rotation of the cubes or blocks 21 on their corresponding shafts22. When a desired configuration or design is obtained, the members 30,32 are returned to normal positions. This, of course, is applicable toFIG. 5, the difference being that no stops or pegs are provided to limitthe outward movement of members or pieces 23, 25. According to thisconstruction, the blocks or cubes 21 may be withdrawn from therespective shafts 22 and rearranged or they may be rotated or may berearranged and rotated, presenting a myriad of sectional designs orfaces. Each face may form a section of a predetermined configuration ortotal design.

According to FIG. 7a, the members 46, 47 and 48 are extendably tiedtogether 'by the links 50, 51, and the pins 52, 53, guided respectivelyin the slots 49, 49a. Links 50, 51 are secured to the intermediatemember 47.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 8 to 12.As an example, there are shown nine blocks 36, each triangularlyshapedin section and hav ing rectangular faces, arranged in a holder or frame37, consisting of four, preferably flat sides or members, in such mannerthat a rectangular disposition 20 of the blocks 36 is achieved. Theupper member 38 of frame 37 may be connected with the side wall 39 by ahinge 40 or the like, and a latch device 41 may be employed for holdingit in closed position on the side wall 42. The hinge 40 and latch device41 are of conventional types and, therefore, will not be described indetail. On each one of the inner sides of the upper member 38 and of thebottom member 43 are three semi-spherical probosces 44 which engage incorresponding circular recesses or sockets 45 in the triangular blocks36 so that the latter may be rotated about these pivotal meansindependently from one another. The blocks of the upper and of thecenter rows have simliar recesses 45 on one face thereof, and havesemi-spherical probosces 44 on the opposite face thereof, whereas theblocks of the lower row have recesses in both faces thereof.

The rectangular or square faces of the triangularlyshaped blocks 36again have artistic indicia 27 painted or printed thereon, in the samemanner as described above. The blocks 36 may be made of solid material,or may be hollow, made of cardboard, plastic or the like. The frame 37may be made of any suitable material. The designs or configurations maybe printed on paper or the like and the latter then secured to the facesof the blocks. It is understood that in lieu of the semi-sphericalmemberand-socket arrangement, the blocks 36 may be provided with throughholes and frame with shafts similar to the construction shown in FIGS. 1to 7.

The operation of this educational or psychotherapeutical device is suchthat practically innumerable variations of patterns and schemes can bemade by shuffiing and reshuffling the blocks around, up and down and/orby rotating them at will, or, according to a prearranged design orconfiguration, creating varying overall appearances of the total pictureconstituting, in the examples shown, nine faces arranged in a square. Itis obvious that the arrangement 20 also can be made up of any othernumber of blocks, for example, of 4, 16, 25, 36, etc.

It is further obvious that although the amount of blocks used in theexamples herein are such that an overall square face is produced, madeup of the individual square faces, other amounts of blocks may be usedto provide overall rectangular faces other than square. It has howeverbeen found that nine blocks form a preferred assembly. It is alsopossible, due to the square configuration of the faces, to turn theframe 37 on a side, around or upside-down, thus presenting othercombinations of configurations to the player.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect tocertain preferred examples which give satisfactory results, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art after understanding the principleof the invention, that various other changes and modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, andit is intended therefore in the appended claims to cover all suchchanges and modifications.

I claim:

1. An educational and therapeutic game comprising a plurality of blockscarrying artistic indicia on each face thereof, said faces 'beingsubstantially square, said blocks having holes, a plurality ofvertically arranged pins having substantially the same diameter as saidholes in said blocks whereby said blocks may be individually rotatedabout said pins, and a base plate for holding said pins in spacedrelationship whereby said blocks may be arranged in contiguoushorizontal alignment, said base plate consisting of a plurality ofparts, each one of said parts carrying one of said pins, and means formovably connecting said parts whereby said parts may be laterally spacedapart during said rotation of said blocks.

2. A game according to claim 1, and comprising a frame surrounding saidblocks.

3. A game according to claim 2, and wherein said frame has a swingablehinged upper member.

4. A game according to claim 3, and wherein each of said blocks istriangular in section, each of said blocks having three square faces.

5. A game according to claim 1, and wherein said means comprises tongueand groove members.

6. A game according to claim 1, and wherein said means comprises pin andlink members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 61,531 1/1867Freetsha 3527 523,676 7/1894 McGrath 3535 1,453,728 5/1923 Rhodes 35271,636,371 7/1927 Kenney 3527 1,995,154 3/1935 Morrison 3577 2,429,02710/1947 Myers 3535 2,899,757 8/1959 Webb 3532 2,981,009 4/1961 Lindquist35-17 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. H. S. SKOGQUIST, AssistantExaminer.

1. AN EDUCATIONAL AND THERAPEUTIC GAME COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF BLOCKSCARRYING ARTISTIC INDICIA ON EACH FACE THEREOF, SAID FACES BEINGSUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE, SAID BLOCKS HAVING HOLES, A PLURALITY OFVERTICALLY ARRANGED PINS HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME DIAMETER AS SAIDHOLES IN SAID BLOCKS WHEREBY SAID BLOCKS MAY BE INDIVIDUALLY ROTATEDABOUT SAID PINS, AND A BASE PLATE FOR HOLDING SAID PINS IN SPACEDRELATIONSHIP WHEREBY SAID BLOCKS MAY BE ARRANGED IN CONTIGUOUSHORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT, SAID BASE PLATE CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OFPARTS, EACH ONE OF SAID